Debbie Somers <[log in to unmask]> asked:
> 1.  Does anyone know the origin of the knock on wood for luck
>    superstition?
>
> 2.  Does it matter if the wood is alive or dead?  (i.e., a board as
> opposed to the actual tree) and does the size of the wood have any
> bearing on the matter?
 
Just to show you that winters in upstate NY are almost as long
and inclined to cabin-fever as those in Wisconsin, I saw an answer
(I don't know if it's right) on a PBS Woodcarving show with Rich
Butz - yes woodcarving, 1/2hr of watching him do it and talk about it.
Anyway the story he gave was that it came from Germany (Black Forest,
maybe?) where the folklore had it that spirits lived in the wood.
They continued to do so even if it had been cut down and fabricated.
Perhaps the size of the wood spirit correlated to the size of the
wood - personally I fear this interpretation since I have a gigantic
oak tree standing ten feet away from my large wooden house.) These wood
spirits enjoyed nothing better than stomping on the hubris of humans -
perhaps they are cousins of the mysterious Gods of Woofing known
to all Hockey-L members? The idea of knocking on wood was that if
you were about to boast about some chicken you were counting before
it had hatched, then you'd tap on the wood WHILE you talked about it
so that the wood spirit would not be able to hear you. The mistaken
modern custom of tapping on the wood AFTER having said something
is probably worst than nothing. Not only the wood spirit has already
heard your WOOF, now you're antagonizing he/she/is by banging around
his/her/its home. So remember TAP WHILE WOOFING. If my theory about
the relatedness of these spirits to the Gods of Woofing is true,
perhaps the electronic equivalent to wood-tapping might be mixing
"noise" with the signal of the WOOF, for example (noise=zz):
 
zzMYzz<Insert Mascot Name>zzRULE!zzYOURzz<Insert Enemy Mascot Here>zz
zzSTINK!zzWE'LLzzWINzz10zzTOzz0zzzzzz
 
Now if I had faith in this theory, I might have inserted my own
beloved mascot and that of a certain soon-to-be-encountered opponent,
but I am not foolish. (Perhaps the Gods of Woofing have already been
listening to Bobby Inman, a known Woofer, and have all the latest
eaves-dropping technology.) However if any Maine fans would like
to test my theory, PLEASE do so.
Dave Carroll BU '73 - [log in to unmask]